China's entrepreneurs, bankers more optimistic about macroeconomy: central bank

BEIJING -- Chinese entrepreneurs and bankers expressed growing optimism over the country's macroeconomy in the first quarter of this year, the latest central bank surveys showed Monday.

The entrepreneurs' macroeconomy heat index came in at 33.8 percent in the first quarter, up 10.3 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to a survey from the People's Bank of China.

About 64.6 percent of the surveyed entrepreneurs from 5,000 businesses thought the macroeconomy was operating normally in the first quarter.

A separate central bank survey on bankers showed that their macroeconomy heat index stood at 40.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, up 22.8 percentage points from the previous quarter, with 62.8 percent of surveyed bankers saying the macroeconomy was operating normally.

The bankers' outlook index for macroeconomy heat rose to 50.9 percent for the second quarter, 10.7 percentage points higher than the first quarter.

It also showed that aggregate loan demand rose in the first quarter, with the index up 19 percentage points from the previous quarter to 78.4 percent.